Application Level Interface to Network Analysis Tools

1. A method of simulating an effect of application-level changes to a network, said method comprising: receiving, via a user interface running on a processor, input indicating changes to an application running on the network; determining, by the processor, a plurality of messages caused by the changes to the application; determining, by the processor, an effect of propagation of the plurality of messages based on a model that simulates communications in the network; and providing, via the user interface, a visual representation of an effect of the propagation of the plurality of messages through the network based on the simulation, wherein the user interface includes a tier-circle view that illustrates tiers as points on a circumference of a curved shape, and messages between each pair of tiers as a line that connect the points corresponding to each tier of the pair of tiers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the user input indicating changes to the application comprises receiving user input indicating messages inserted between tiers in the model of the network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the user input indicating changes to the application comprises receiving user input indicating respective sources and destinations of messages.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the user input indicating changes to the application comprises receiving a script describing application-level functions for execution on the model of the network by the computer simulator.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein receiving the user input indicating changes to the application comprises receiving a programming language script.

6. The method of claim 1 , including determining a delay associated with each message, and displaying each message on the visual representation based on the delay.

7. A system configured to simulate an effect of application-level changes to a network, said system comprising: a user interface that is responsive to user input that indicates changes to applications running on the network; a processor that is configured to determine a plurality of messages for the changes to the applications and simulate propagation of the messages based on a model of the network, wherein the model simulates communications in the network; and wherein the user interface is configured to indicate an effect of the changes to the applications based on the simulated propagation of the messages, and wherein the user interface includes a tier-circle view that illustrates tiers as points on a circumference of a curved shape, and messages between each pair of tiers as a line that connect the points corresponding to each tier of the pair of tiers.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to simulate the propagation of packets at a transport-protocolayer level.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to process one or more scripts that facilitate generation of at least a portion of the plurality of messages.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to process at least one script written in a general-purpose programming language.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the user interface is further configured to receive user input indicating dependencies between messages of the plurality of messages.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the user interface is further configured to facilitate creation of additional messages that are added to the plurality of messages.

13. A system configured to facilitate analysis of application-level changes to a network, the system comprising: a processor configured by executable program code to provide a user interface that is responsive to user input, wherein the user input indicates changes to applications running on the network, determine a plurality of messages for the changes to the applications, and determine an effect of propagation of the messages based on a model that simulates communications in the network; an output, coupled to the processor, providing data for a graphic representation showing propagation of one or more messages between the two or more tiers of the network; and wherein the user interface includes a data exchange chart wherein: each of the two or more tiers is represented as a time line, each message of the one or more messages is represented as a connecting line between the tiers, extending from a start-time on a first tier to an end-time on a second tier, and a difference between the end-time and the start-time provides an indication of an amount of time required for the message to traverse a link between the first tier and the second tier.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the user interface includes connectors between the messages that indicate dependencies between the messages.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the user interface includes a tree view that illustrates a hierarchy of the messages.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the user interface includes a tier-circle view that illustrates tiers as points on a circumference of a curved shape, and the messages between each pair of tiers as a line that connect the points corresponding to each tier of the pair of tiers.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the user interface receives input from at least one of: a mouse, a tablet, a pointing device, and a keyboard.